September 2018 - Awra Briguela

VP fashion
Mark Ranque
Dominating the Local Fashion Industry
by Badet Macaraig
Mark Ranque’s fondness of Filipino celebrities led to his dream
of pursuing a career in the local show business. When he
was just fifteen years old, he traveled to Manila to pursue his
dreams despite his parents’ disapproval. He ended up working
as a Road Manager of young celebrities, where he met fashion
stylist Odelon Simpao. Ranque was initially offered a position as
Simpao’s assistant stylist but he was doubtful. “[I was] hesitant
to accept the offer because I do not have any idea about fashion
and styling,” Ranque recalled, “but [Simpao] offered to teach me
[about it],” he added.
Ranque expressed that his experience as Simpao’s assistant over
the past few years was one of the major factors that helped him
improve in the field. He shared that Simpao’s guidance and trust
gave him the opportunity to explore and learn more about styling.
“He always left me on set and doing the job alone [widened
my] knowledge in fashion,” Ranque stated.
He worked on other styling gigs with a known local TV Network
until he eventually decided to pursue a career as a personal
stylist.
Breaking Through
When asked about his biggest break as a fashion stylist, Ranque
recalled how social media played a vital role in his career
development. “I was the assistant stylist of the [boy group]
Hashtags when I saw an article about Donny Pangilinan,” Ranque
remembered. “I stalked his social media accounts and messaged
him. I didn’t expect him to reply to my messages but I started to
become his fan,” Ranque recalled.
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